North Township Trustee Frank Mrvan has sent a letter to Gov. Eric Holcomb asking to have county election offices send every registered voter a ballot for the June 2 primary election, without filling out an application, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I would encourage you to require each county to proactively mail a ballot to every registered voter and remove the current requirement that all individuals fill out an application in order to receive mail-in ballot,” Mrvan, a Democratic candidate for the 1st Congressional District, wrote Tuesday to the governor.

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But, Lake and Porter county election officials said mailing ballots to all registered voters without an application would not be possible because the application requires the voter to mark a party affiliation and provide a signature. Additionally, the officials said, the Indiana Election Commission recently removed vote-by-mail rules.

On March 20, Holcomb announced that the state’s primary election will be moved from May 5 to June 2 because of the spread of the COVID-19 virus. About a week later, the Indiana Election Commission approved new rules for the primary, including that every registered voter can cast an absentee ballot by mail “without having a specific reason to do so,” like is normally required.

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In his letter, Mrvan said that with libraries, government offices, schools and other business buildings closed under the stay-at-home order, voters my not be able to print, fill out and mail in their application.

“We should do our part to easily facilitate their participation in our democratic process by ensuring that their ability to have their voice heard in the primary election is as simple and safe as possible,” Mrvan wrote.

In March, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. called for postponing the May 5 primary election, while State Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster, called for a 100% mail-in ballot election. McDermott and Reardon are also Democratic candidates for the 1st District Congressional race.

Porter County Clerk Jessica Bailey provides an update on the upcoming municipal elections and new voting equipment Wednesday during a presentation sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Porter County and held at HealthLinc in Valparaiso. (Amy Lavalley / Post-Tribune)

Porter County Clerk Jessica Bailey said mailing out ballots without receiving an application “would be us filling out (party) affiliation” for the voters.

The state and the county are doing all the can to ensure as many voters as possible vote by mail in the upcoming primary election, Bailey said.

The Indiana Election Commission is meeting again April 22, Bailey said, and county officials home to get more guidance from the state.

Lake County Election and Voter Registration Board Director Michelle Fajman said that with the recent decision to eliminate vote-by-mail rules, all registered voters can vote by mail. Additionally, the application for a ballot requires a voter to pick a party affiliation and provide a signature, which are marked for future elections.

“There should be some initiative by the voter because there are still things that need to be filled out,” Fajman said.

To help voters vote by mail during the pandemic, Fajman said the election office is make applications available through fax, email, in-person and over the phone. For example, a Lake County voter can call the office, Fajman said, and office staff will mail out the application, which the voter then mails back to then receive the ballot by mail, she said.

Additionally, Fajman said in-person early voting and election day voting should still be made available during the primary election, especially for people with disabilities and the elderly. Voting by machine is easier for people with disabilities and the elderly, she said.

“There’s a number of things we can do to keep it safe and healthy,” Fajman said.

As of Tuesday, the Lake County election office has already received 3,323 mail-in ballot applications, Fajman said, and the primary is still a months away. By comparison, in 2016, the last presidential election, the office processed about 3,800 mail-in ballot applications, she said.

If the primary election is done completely by mail, there will be counting limitations because more staff would be required to count the ballots and they would have to abide by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which currently state no more than 10 people in a room and everyone has to be 6 feet apart, Fajman said.

“People will not have their numbers in that night like they’re used to,” Fajman said, if an all-mail election is held or the majority of voters vote by mail.